Question 1

Why do we use fois here instead of temps for "time"?

Accepted Answer

In French, fois is used for occurrences or instances that you can count, like "the first time" or "three times". Temps refers to time as a general concept or duration (like "I don't have time"), and heure is used for clock time.

Question 2

Could I say la seconde fois instead of la deuxième fois?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can. Traditionally, French speakers used seconde when there were only two occurrences in total, and deuxième when there was a third or more. Nowadays they are often used interchangeably, but using deuxième here might jokingly hint that you expect it to happen a third time!

Question 3

Why does the sentence use C'est instead of Il est for "It is"?

Accepted Answer

We use C'est to identify or introduce a noun phrase, especially when the noun has a determiner like la in front of it. Il est is generally used before an adjective on its own, for example Il est tard (It is late), or for clock time like Il est midi (It is noon).

Question 4

Why is it cette semaine rather than ce semaine?

Accepted Answer

The word semaine (week) is a feminine noun. Therefore, you need to use the feminine demonstrative adjective cette to say "this". If you were talking about a masculine noun, you would use ce, as in ce mois (this month).

C'est la deuxième fois cette semaine.

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